Steering apparatus



UNITED s'rArEs N)PATENT oEEIoE.,d I i i HATSEL HIGGINS, OF ORLEANS,MASSACHUSETTS.

STEERING ArrARATus.

-Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 25,734, dated October 11, 1859.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, I-IAfrsEL HIGGINS, of Orleans, in the county ofBarnstable and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful orImproved Steering Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the same isfully described and represented in the following specification and theaccompanying drawings, of which- Figure l denotes a front elevation,Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a top view, of such apparatus.

It is a fact well known that a good and effective steering apparatus isa desideratum which has long been sought for, that millions of dollarsand thousands of Valuable lives have been lost through the ineii'iciencyof the different kinds of devices heretofore employed.

To find a remedy for the defects existing in almost all the apparatusheretofore used has been the special object of my invention, the natureof which consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of theoperative parts of a steering apparatus, such parts consisting of a spurand bevel gear connecting wheel (supported in manner as will behereinafter described) a bevel gear and a spur gear applied to the handwheel shaft and the rudder head respectively, such construction andarrangement being such as not only to allow of great rapidity andfacility in changing the course of a vessel but of permitting the rudderhead to rise with out any danger of disengagement of the gears or injurythereto in case the after part of a vessel should strike upon a ledge orget into shoal water.

In such drawings A, denotes a portion of the deck, B, a part of thestern of a vessel with my apparatus applied thereto; C, represents therudder head as projecting above the said deck, and from or near itscentral part, the said rudder head being allowed to freely revolve inthe deck in the usual manner. On the top or upper part of t-he saidrudder head a metallic cap D, is placed, the same having a sectoral spurgear L, formed on its periphery as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The width ofsuch sectoral part, or the length of the teeth formed upon it, issomewhat greater than the width of the spur gear wheel E, with which itengages, such being so constructed in order to permit the rudder head torise without throwing its gear out of engagement with the connectinggear. The said wheel E, is supported and so as to be capable of freelyrotating horizontally upon a vertical standard, F, which rises from' thedeck and is firmly secured thereto by means of a collar and bolts asshown in Fig. 2, or in any other proper manner so as to admit of beingreadily removed therefrom in case of breakage or injury to the saidwheel; such wheel E, being confined to the top of the standard F, bymeans of a screw a, and a washer t, as shown in the drawings, or in anyother proper manner, such screw serving as an arbor or shaft on whichsaid wheel may revolve. Furthermore the said wheel E, has not only asectoral gear made vertically upon one side of it, but also has ahorizontal sectoral bevel gear J, formed upon its opposite side, suchbevel sector having a radius of about double that of the vertical gearand being concentric therewith. This last mentioned bevel gear engageswith a bevel sector or sectoral gear G, fixed upon the handwheel shaftI, as shown in the drawings. lIhe said shaft I, not only carries thegear G, but also a hand wheel H, and is supported in stationary bearingsc, (l, the former of which is made on the top of an A shaped frame whilethe latter is fixed to the stern as shown in the drawings.

It is evident that when the steering wheel is turned so as to put itsshaft in revolution, a movement either toward the right or the left willbe communicated to the rudder by means of the train of gears beforedescribed.

In case an accident should happen to the above mentioned gears, I haveso constructed and arranged them, that I can readily remove such as maybe necessary and apply the tiller to the rudder head in the placethereof as shown in Fig. 4.

From the above it will be seen that my apparatus is not only very simplein construction, but very little liable to get out of order during roughweather at sea or while a vessel is being driven upon a reef or shoal,and besides that it possesses many advantages over most if not all otherapparatus of a like character.

The intermediate position of the rudder operating gear between therudder head and the stern of the vessel enables the hand wheel to bearranged close aft and in immediate proximity to the rudder head, whicheconomizes deck space in front of the steering apparatus and gives anadvantageous eompaetness tout-he Whole.Y Also bysueh arrangement, andthe extension of the hand wheel shaft clear to the stern, every facilityis afforded for working the rudder by a temporary tiller rigged thereonor fitted thereto as shown in F ig. 4, and operated by a rope or chainfrom a barrel on the hand wheel shaft, wheneverbreakage or removal ofthe regular operating gear makes a substtute desirable or necessary.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is,

The arrangement, substantially as specified, of the rudderhead,intermediately be- HATSEL HIGGINS. Witnesses:

l ARTHUR NEILL, F. P. HALE Jr.

